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WlLTTJIOU  BE  MADE   WHOLE? 

BY    Sitv7.    WM.     HOWARD,    01?    ALA. 

This   question   was  originally  addressed 

by  our  companionate  Redeemer  to  a  poor, 
sick,  helpless  man,  who  had  groaned  un- 
der an  incurable  malady  thirty  and  eight 
years.  It  is  bow  proposed  to  the  brave 
soldiers  of  the  Southern  Confederacy  who, 
enfeebled  by  sickness  and  wounded  in 
'battle,  ai\c  languishing  in  the  Hospital, 
far  fa&w  loved  ones  and  all  the  comiorta 
and  endearments  of  home. 

Tl;  -  anestiou  does  not  refer  to  ysnr 
bodity  hijirmiii's.  We  have  seen  some  of 
the  suffering  and  distress  which  this  un- 
holy war  has  occasioned,  and  the  siglft 
has  deepiv  affected  our  heart.  We  would, 
if  in  our  .power,  speedily  heal  every  wound 
and  remove  every  disease.  * 

Ami  yet  this  language  rupppses  that 
you  are  tick.  .  Morally  and  religiously  you 
are  in  a  state  of  disorder  and  disease. 
Nothing  but  the  m<  st  wilful  blindness 
conceal  Irorn  your  view  the  fearful  symp- 
toms of  this  spiritual  disease.  Your  soul 
has  lost  its  appetite  for  proper  and  whole- 
some  food.     The  Woid    of   God,  prayer. 


communion  with  the  Father  of  Spirit* — 
these  constitute  the  proper  nourishment 
of  the  soul.  -  But  }Tou  have  no  relish  for 
these  things.  The  very  sense  of  loathing 
which  you  feel  when  brought- in  contact 
with  spiritual  things,  proves  of  itself,  that 
your  spiritual  health  is  wholly  gone.. 

Again,  the  restlessness  and-  uneasiness 
of  your  soul  is  another  indication  of  the 
existence  and  prevalence  of  spiritual  dis- 
ease. "  There  is  no  peace,  saith  my  God, 
to  the  wicked."  Ti  is  -declaration  corre- 
sponds wi  h  your  actual  experience.  You 
cannot  rid  yourself  of  conrious  uneasi- 
ness, and  disratisfac'tion  wlrch  spreads  its 
infectious  influence  over  all  your  pursuits 
and  enjoyments.  An  irritation  like  this 
existing  in  the  physical  system,  is  a*t  once 
taken  us  an  indication  of  a  derangement 
of  the  functions  and  of  the  presence  of 
disease.  Ought  it  not  to  be  equally  so  in 
regard  to  the'loul? 

Sin  is  the  infection,  which  is  working 
destruction  in  your  soul.  The  heart  at 
enmity  to  God,  the  affections  estranged 
from  the  iountain  of  life  and  j 03%  thi .  is 
your  despei  ate  malady.  It  has  spread  it- 
self throughout  your  spiritual  system,  and 

infected  with   its  contaminating  influence 

___..  ^ 


your   every    moral   faculty.     "The    whole 
head  is'  pick,  and   the  whole  heart  faint ; 
from  the   crown    of  the  head  to  the  sole 
of    the  foot,    there  is   no    soundness;  but 
wounds,  and  bruises,  and  putrefying  sores.'! 
And  0  think  of  its  dreadful  termination, 
"Sin,  when   it  is  finished,  bringeth    forth 
death."     Separation  now  from  the  love  of 
God,    and    eternal    banishment   from    his 
presence  hcrcjifcer.     It  is  a  deadly  malady, 
and  tends  infallibly   to  the  everlasting  de- 
struction of  its  v;cLim.     But  you    say,  "I 
fe^l  that,  I  am  safe;  I  perceive  no  ground 
tor  alarm."     But    remember,  insensibility 
•  to  danger  by   no  means  disproves  the  fact 
of  its   existence.     Look   at  your  comrade 
who  lies  on    the  next    cot — the  victim  ot 
that    slow    but    unfailing  der-troyer,    con- 
sumption!    How  confidently  he  looks  for- 
ward, even    from  the    very  brink  of  the 
grave, .to  the    prospect   of  recovery!     Tne 
disease    works     its    way    effectually,    yet 
gradually    and  un perceived,    until    it    has 
sapped  the  very    vitals  of  the    system,  and 
though  the  course  of  [-reparation  has  been 
long,  yet   the  body  fails  at  last   suddenly 
and  unexpectedly   into  the   tomb,  and  just 
as  imperceptibly,  yet  no    Jess   surely,  does 
that  ^piiitual  dis  »a$e    make  progress,    t<* 

P4219 


which   your  soul  is   subject.     Be  Assured 
"the  end  of  these  things  is  death." 

But  blessed  be  God,  this  disease  dread- 
ful as  it  is,  is  curable.  True  the  case  is  der 
sperate  wlien  considered  in  referen  e  to 
human  aid.  No,  outward  appliances  can 
reach  ihe  seat 'of  the  disease,  No  opiates 
you  apply  will  be  effectual  in  quieting 
your  troubled  concience,  relieving  it  of  its 
restlessness  and  anxiety  and  restoring  it 
to  perfect  tranquility  and  peace.  But  "Is 
there,"  says  God,  "no  balm  in  Gilead? 
la  there  no  physician  there?"  Yes,  there 
is  a  balm,  a  great  and  tried  physician, 
who  says  to  every  soul  concious  of  this  you 
disease  and  anxious  to  be  cured  "I  will 
come  and  heal  him." 

Will  you  then,  my  dear  friend,  answer 
this-  question,  practically  now?  Before* 
put  aside  this  tract,  as  Jesus  asks  you  "Wilt 
thou  ;>e  made  whole?"  will  you  honestly 
and  prayerfully  reply  "1  will?"  You  can 
do  this  without  rising  from  your  bed,  by 
applying-  to  thi  i  physician,  and  crying 
"ileal  my  soul,  for  I  have  sinned  against 
thee."  lie  has  provided  a  remedy  of  uni- 
versal efficacy.  It  is  sufficient  to  meet  the 
necessities  of  the  most  desperate  case! 
"  The    blood   of   Jesus    Christ    cleanseth 


from  all  sin."  "Though  your  sins  be  as' 
scarlet,  they  bhall  be  white  as  snow."  The 
woman  who  was  a  great  and  notorious 
"sinner,"  applied  to  him,  and  the  burden 
of  her  sins  was  at  once  removed.  Paul, 
a  blasphemer  and  persecutor,  guilty  as  he 
nvas*  and  desperate  as  was  his  condition, 
yet  proved  the  efficacy  of  the  sovereign 
remedy.  None  ever  applied  to  Christ, 
-submitted  to  his  prescriptions  and  applied 
his  remedy,  who  has  not  found  effectual 
and  permanent  relief.  "Virtue  has  gone 
out"  of  him  sufficient  to  heal  the  deepest, 
to  cleanse  and  purify  the  moot  inveterate 
wounds. 

And  he  is  just  as  willing  as  he  is  able 
to  serve.  We  may  be  poor,  but  his  ser- 
vices are  offered  without  money  and  with- 
out price.  We  may  be  wholly  unworthy 
of  his  favor;  but  he  asks  for  nothing  on 
our  part,  6ave  a  sense  of  our  necessities. 
Hi i  offers  are  indiscriminate  and  free. 
"Ho!  every  one  that  thirsteth,  come  ye  to 
the  waters."  "Look  unto  me  and  be  ye 
saved,  all  the  ends  of  the  earth."-     - 

Now,  then,  my  sick  friend  wTill  you  not 
make  a  personal  application  to  this  Divine 
Physician  !  Remember  that  the  time  of 
cure   is  limited  and  uncertain.     "Now  is 


r>  /i mi  Q.Q 


the  accepted  time;  behold,  now  is  the  day 
of  salvation."  Now  the  question  is  pro- 
posed "Wilt  thou  be  made  whole?"  God 
grant  that  you  may  answer  it  at  once  by 
repairing  to  the  footstool  of  mercy,  there 
seeking  deliverance  from  the  pcwer  of 
your  sins,  that  the  progress  of  the  plague 
Which  is  hurrying  your  soul  to  eternal 
death  may  be  stayed. 

1,  '.'And  didst  thou,  Jesus,  condescend, 
To  heal  the  sick,  the  lame,  the  blind, 
And  drive  disease  away? 

%  Didst  thou  regard  the  beggar's  ciy, 
And  cause  the  blind  to  see? 
Thou  Sou  of  David,  hear — 0,  hear — 
Have  mercy,  too,  on  me. 

3.  And  didst  thou  pity  mortal  woe, 
And  sight  and  health  restore? 
0,  pity,  Lord,  and  save  my  soul, 
Which  needs  thy  mercy  more. 

4.  Didst  thou  thy. trembling  servant  raise, 
When  sinking  in  the  wave? 

I  perish,  Lord  !  0  save  my  soul  1 
For  thou  alone  canst  save." 

"  What  must.  I  Do  to  Inherit  Eternal  Life  T\ 
"  Lite,  life,  eternal  life,,"  tl\c  most  impor- 
tant of  all  things  to  the  guilty,  t lie  lost,  the 
dying.     What  must  I  do  to  inherit  it? 
'  "  What  must  I  do  ?"     Something  must  be 


done,  and  done  eoort,  and  done  in  earnest, 

or  I  perish,  .If  T  remain  idle,  inactive,  un- 
concerned, a  little  longer,  it  may  be  too  late. 

"  What  must  I  do  /"  Not  only  is  tome- 
thing  to  be  done,  but  I  must  do  it.  God 
has  wrought  out  a  great  salvation  ;  I  nIRst 
receive  it  at  the  hand  of  God.  Nooneetsc 
can  Jo  this  for  me.  I  must  myself  accept 
the  profered  gift,  or  never  be  savjjd. 

What  must  1  do  ?"'  There  is  a  necessity  fn 
the  ease, 'urgent,  pressing,  inevitable.  The 
work  must  be  done,  or  I  am  undone,  forev- 
er undone.  Thinking,  feeling  intending, 
resolving — all  this  i*  not  enough.  What 
God  directs  must  be  (lone,  and  done  as  he 
directs,  or  I  perish.         • 

And  now,  do  yon  ask  in  sincerity  and 
earnestness,  V  What' must  I  do?%1  By  the* 
grace  of  God,  ami  according  to  his  truth,  I 
Will  tell  you.  You  must  admit  and  feel  that 
yon  are  a  wntterfguilty,  polluted,  condemn- 
ed, lost, and  so  dead  in  sins  as  to  Vein  need 
of  eternal  life..  You  must  realize  that  lite 
is  to  be  found  in  Christ.  "In  him  is  life," 
John  1;  4  ;  and  lie  "giveth  .life  unto  the 
world,"  John  6:33,  And  do  you  ask, 
"How  shaii  I  obtain  it?"  "  lie  *  that  he- 
lieveth  on  the  S<  n  hath  everlasting  life," 
John  3:37.     This,  tken,  is  what  you   must 


do;  you.  must  believe  on  Christ.  You  must 
^believe  chat  he  is  the  Saviour,  the  only  Saviour,  an 
-all-sufficient  Saviour,  able  to  save  to  the  uttermost, 
willing  to  save  all  that  will  come  to  him;  ready 
•afl$  wailing  to  save  you,  and  to  save  you  now. 

And  if.  yon  believe  him  thus  to  be  a  Saviour,  and 
.^re  willing  to  be  saved  by  him,  you  will  accept  him 
as  your  Saviour,  according  to  his  word.  You  will 
repent :  that  is,  you  will  cease  to  do. evil,  that  you 
may  learn  of  Christ  to  do  well ;  sorrowing  that  you 
have  ever  broken  God's  commands,  and  resolving' 
;and  praying  that  you  may  do  so  no  more.  You 
will  believe:  that  is,  you  will  a-eee-ive  all  that 
Christ  has  said,  and  trust  all  that  he  has  promised; 
and  give  up  yourself,  and  all  that  you  have  and  are, 
to  him,  for  time  and  enmity.  You  will  obey  :  that 
i'Vycm  will  endeavor  to  do  Christ's  will,  as. the  Bi- 
ble d  >,ebres  it:  and  to  do  it.sincei^ly,  immediately, 
uniformly,  prayerfully,  faith fuMy,  to  the  end  of  life, 
"relying  on  the  Holy  Spirit  for  strength,  and  on  the 
grace  of  God  in  Christ  sJesus  for.  acceptance  at  the 
iinal  day.  .  Do  this,  and  you  shall  "  inherit  eternal 
life."  Your  sins  shall  be  forgiven;  your  heart  be 
renewed:  your  hope  rest  on  the  true  foundation  : 
though  an  outcast,  you, shall  be  restored  though, 
deserving  death,  yqu.s.kdl  inherit,  through,  graee 
eternal  Uie. 


PH  8.5 


